


The Oasis

by Anonymous



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction & Fantasy, Cyberpunk!AU, Dragons, Dwarves, Gen, Hiatus, M/M, Technology, Technopathy, because art hit me over the head and here I am :'), tags to be updated with warnings if/when they come up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25946662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Sokka just wants Katara to stop abandoning him when he tells her towaitbecause now he's on a crazy adventure with a bunch of weavers and all he's got is the Oasis and his tech.*Zuko is sick of his father'sand sister'ssubordinates telling him what to do. Airweavers aregoneand yet he's stuck on this mission, seeking his father's favor so he can have even just a small chance at controlling Caldera Inc. and not dooming his kind to misery.(Otherwise known as the atla cyberpunk!AU.)
Relationships: (more to come when I actually plot), Sokka & Katara & Aang & Toph, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Zuko & Iroh, Zuko & Toph
Comments: 13
Kudos: 25
Collections: Anonymous





	The Oasis

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by atla cyberpunk!au art by [kurisu-80](https://kurisu-80.tumblr.com/) and [marukmpos](https://marukmpos.tumblr.com/tagged/Avatar-The-Last-Airbender) on Tumblr. 
> 
> Thanks to [BlueSapphire718](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueSapphire718) for betaing the first chapter for my poor brain.

The ship creaks as it slows and Sokka jumps out of his seat the minute it grinds to a halt. _Finally_. He stumbles as the ship rocks and fully docks, but rights himself quickly as he waves the storage bay door open. He ignores the fact that he’s supposed to have been watching the storage bay (that’ll be a problem for later). 

He sprints down the hallway towards the front of the ship, dodging tribe members who yell after him in shock and scolding. 

Katara joins him after a few hallways. She pants, “Stop running so fast!” 

“Can’t!” Sokka yells back. “The Oasis suggested that if we don’t sneak out at the beginning of the door opening we won’t be able to leave!”

Katara groans but keeps up with Sokka’s pace. “I don’t even have my Interface.” 

Tapping at his own Interface around his neck, Sokka says, “I’ve got mine so we should be fine.” 

“Okay.” Katara nods. 

They skid to a stop before the next turn, lights flickering above them. Katara turns her head and watches the hallway they’d come from. “No one’s coming.” 

“They should all be heading to the storage bay to help with the unloading and the setting up for the refueling.” Sokka fiddles with the Interface lying on his neck, “The Oasis agreed.” 

Sokka ignores Katara’s frown and pokes his head around the bend of the tunnel. “Oasis, is there anyone coming?” 

A smooth female voice emanates from his Interface, “According to our calculations, there should be no person approaching from ahead of you.” 

Turning back to Katara, Sokka says, “Let’s go. I don’t think Dad and Bato will get to the hatch until they check the storage bay.” 

“I don’t like how reliant you are on the Oasis.” 

He rolls his eyes. “We’ve _had_ this argument already Katara. I don’t want to talk about it again.”

Katara plants her feet. “I think we should.” 

“Ugh. I’ve already _explained_. I don’t know how to make it more clear. You’re a _spellweaver_. You should understand. The Oasis feels to me like your spells feel to you.”

“That’s not _normal_ , Sokka.” 

“How would _you_ know? You’ve never been anywhere or seen anything that I haven’t seen.” 

Katara huffs. “It’s not _right_.” 

“Don’t try to talk like you’re all high and mighty. We’re _smugglers_ , Katara. Our notion of what is right and wrong is different. And somehow you got all the morals on this ship. Now come on. You’re the one who wanted to get off the _Minami_.”

“ _Fine_.” 

“Fine.”

Sokka creeps around the corner and makes his way to the side hatch door. The hallways echoes with Sokka and Katara’s steps. 

The _Minami_ hasn’t held its full capacity of crew and cargo in _years_. Since before Sokka was even born. And the emptiness on the ship is stark compared to the populations of the port cities that they often docked at. The hallways often stretch into the dark and footsteps echo ominously while the cities are just full of _life_ and are exciting. 

Sokka closes his eyes and places his hand on the hatch’s control panel. Tingling spreads from his fingertips up his arm, and Sokka opens his eyes. 

He pries the panel open and begins adjusting the controls. A turn of a knob here. A few strings of code. A flick of a switch. And the hatch hisses as it slowly opens to the side, revealing the dock. 

Grinning, Sokka turns to Katara and gives her an exuberant thumbs up. “Look at that. Still got the magic touch.” 

Katara rolls her eyes. “ _Magic_ touch? More like you probably touched it and it broke.” 

Pouting, Sokka sticks his tongue out at Katara and sticks his head out the hatch, inhaling the fresh air that they haven’t felt in _weeks_. The commotion of the market next to the city echoes before them and Sokka revels in it. 

“Let’s go!” Katara says, her eyes shut in pleasure. 

They jump onto the dock, and glance at each other and then behind them to where they can see tribe members unloading their recent cargo onto loading pallets. There’s a shout of surprise and Sokka laughs as Katara breaks into a run and he follows. 

“How long till you think Dad contacts us?” Sokka asks. 

“You’d think he’d know better by now.”

“Apparently not.” 

They keep running, only slowing to a walk as they draw closer to the market and the density of people increases. 

“We have to stick together.” Sokka says firmly. 

Katara crosses her arms, “You’re not the boss of me.” 

“And yet I’m your older brother and still in charge of you.”

“By _one_ year! We’re basically the same age.” 

“I would disagree.” 

“ _Ugh_. You’re so annoying.” 

“Just doing my job as your older brother. But seriously. Dad will be so pissed if he finds out we split up when we aren’t supposed to be here in the first place.” 

“ _Fine_. But I want to go see if there are any spell scrolls here.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t already seen all of the spell scrolls in existence. Your room looks like a _library_.” 

“Just because you’re too lazy to read a scroll doesn’t mean that I can’t educate myself.” 

Sokka snorts, “What’s the point of reading scrolls when you can just use the Oasis?”

“You can’t _learn_ spells from the Oasis.”

“Well, it’s not like I can _use_ spells so what would I even do with spell scrolls. The only scrolls that even exist anymore are spell scrolls.” 

“You just don’t like reading. And it’s not like we even have a spellweaver on the _Minami_ who could teach me waterweaving. So now I have to use scrolls.”

“We can look at the scrolls for _10_ minutes. No more. Besides, I’m pretty sure this port is controlled by Caldera Guards so I doubt there are even any waterweaving scrolls here.” 

“How’d you know that?” Katara asks, as they duck around a gaggle of Earth Dwarves. 

“...The Oasis.” 

“And how do you think _it_ knows that?”

“Who knows? Nobody knows much of anything about the Oasis so it’s not just me.” 

“I still don’t think that’s right.”

“Kataraaaaa.” Sokka groans. 

“Alright, alright. We can drop it -” 

“ _Thank_ you.”

“- for today.” 

“...I’ll take it.” 

“I thought you would.” 

They continue silently through the main street of the market. Vendors’ yells fill the air, trying to draw customers in. People haggle at stalls and children run rambunctiously between people’s legs, shouting and laughing. 

Sokka’s gait stutters then continues as he realizes that most of the people here are _higher class_. Tugging at his ship clothes subconsciously, he looks at the people around him. Some people wrinkle their noses at them and herd their children away gently, others just stare in awe and Sokka feels like a circus exhibit. 

“What is it?” Katara asks quietly. 

“Do you think that the people here are... _better_ than the ones we normally see?”

Katara lifts an eyebrow but studies the people around them more carefully. “You’re right.” 

“I’ve never seen so many people who are upper class at a port market.” 

“Me neither.” 

“What you’ve seen, _I’ve_ seen, Katara. Of course you haven’t.” Katara rolls her eyes and Sokka continues, “I don’t like this.” 

“You don’t like a lot of things.” 

“ _Hey._ ”

“Hey what. It’s _true_.” 

Sokka opens his mouth to argue when his Interface crackles. 

“I hope you two know that you’re going to be in _so_ much trouble.” Hakoda sighs. 

Wincing, Sokka and Katara exchange glances. “We were going _crazy_ on the _Minami_. You don’t want crazy kids, do you Dad?” 

“Well clearly I already have crazy kids seeing as you two snuck out.” 

“Just half an hour Dad, please.” Katara pleads. “We just wanted to look to see if there are any waterweaving scrolls.” 

“Hey! _You’re_ the one who wanted to see waterweaving scrolls. I didn’t want to see them.” 

“Kids.” Hakoda scolds. “Enough. Stick together and I expect you to be back within the half hour. Otherwise I’m going to send Bato to go find you. And that’s not going to be pleasant for anybody.” 

“Okay!” Sokka agrees quickly, shooting Katara a quelling look. “We’ll be back so fast that you won’t even know that we’ve been gone.”

Hakoda sighs again, “Never mind that. Just be safe please. _And stick together_.”

Sokka’s Interface crackles as Hakoda ends the call and Sokka turns to Katara. “You heard him. We better go back soon.”

“Why are you so uneasy? You were just as eager as me to get out of there.”

Sokka rubs at his arm and glances to the side. “I don’t know. I feel like I can feel something coming.”

Katara looks around. “There’s nothing.”

“I _know_ that. I don’t know why I’m so weirded out. But can we please leave after we find the scrolls?”

“Alright.”

“Good.”

They continue walking and Sokka points, “There!”

Katara turns quickly, a smile growing on her face, and walks quickly to the stall, pushing through the crowd. 

Sokka yelps as he loses sight of her and struggles around a family to get to her. 

“Don’t _do_ that!” He says when he reaches her. 

“Look at the scrolls, Sokka!” Katara grabs Sokka’s sleeve and pulls him forward, pointing enthusiastically. 

Sokka pries Katara’s fingers off his sleeve and says, “I’m _looking_.”

“Oh wow,” Katara says, leaning closer, “look at the details on this one.”

“You know your scrolls, girlie.” The vendor smirks. 

Sokka bristles but Katara holds up a hand. “They’re very interesting, mister. Are these all the scrolls you have?”

The vendor pauses, smirk shrinking. “What do you mean?”

Katara leans in closer and whispers, “These are just history scrolls...Do you have any spellweaving scrolls?”

The vendor gasps, eyes darting from side to side. “Be quiet! Where have you been? Don’t you know that spellweaving scrolls are illegal now!”

“What?” Katara rears back. “What do you mean?”

“Have you got your head stuck in the Oasis? Paying no attention to the real world?” The man tsks. “Lord Ozai recently bought all the land here and his damn patrols have been going around _confiscating_ spellweaving scrolls. Now nobody can sell spellweaving scrolls without getting dragged off and never coming back.”

Katara stares at the vendor thoughtfully and Sokka winces. He knows that look. That look has gotten them into so much trouble because Katara thinks she’s a better spellweaver than she really is. No matter what Katara may claim, Sokka knows that the few waterweaving scrolls Katara has been able to find don’t offer much.

And the only waterweavers who could properly even teach Katara are Northern Water Tribe. Who they haven’t even seen in more than Sokka’s lifetime. So Katara’s spellweaving has been guided, _barely_ , by Gran Gran trying to explain what she remembers from her time with the Northern Water Tribe and the few scrolls Katara has been able to find. Because even though Katara has many scrolls, most were useless or damaged upon further inspection. 

(Sokka tried to ask the Oasis if there was a way to restore the scrolls but it remained silent as ever when asked about spellweaving.)

“But you have some, right?” 

Sokka chokes. 

“ _At least lower your voice_.” He hisses. 

The vendor’s eyes are wide as he stares in disbelief at Katara. Then his eyes narrow in suspicion, “Why do you want to know?”

Katara adjusts the flask at her hip and, after a glance (Sokka is grateful that she’s at least being _a little_ cautious) around, closes her eyes. The cork on her flask pops, held up, as a small stream of water peeks out for a brief moment before returning to the flask and closing it with the cork. 

The vendor’s mouth drops in shock at the display. “Put that _away_.” 

Katara blinks but let’s her flask drop and be covered by her shawl. 

“You _can’t_ do that here. You’ll get taken away. No one’s woven a proper spell in _weeks_ after the first arrests happened.”

Sokka’s eyebrows furrow in thought. “We’ve never been in a city where you can’t even _weave_.”

The vendor’s frown deepens. “You must not have been in a city in the Earth Region for a long while then. Caldera Inc. bought out all the cities in this region quite a few years ago.” 

Sokka and Katara glance at each other and Sokka shakes his head at Katara when she opens her mouth. “We should go.” 

The vendor nods earnestly. “You can’t be found here.” He glances to the side, “You’ll get _me_ killed and I have kids who need me.” 

Katara looks devastated at that and Sokka rolls his eyes. Trust his sister’s bleeding heart to convince her better than any of Sokka’s logic. 

They stand the vendor glances up at them before nodding once to himself. “Here,” He moves to the corner of the room and lifts a stone. 

Sokka leans over and look curiously at what the vendor pulls out. 

“Are those…?”

The vendor nods sharply and pushes a small box at Katara. “Take them. I can’t have them any more and couldn’t find a good way to get rid of them.” 

Katara’s eyes light up in excitement as she takes the box. “Thank y-”

“I don’t care. Leave now, please. Someone is sure to have noticed that you came in here and I don’t want to be arrested.” 

“Right. Yes, we’re leaving now, Katara.” Sokka grabs Katara’s hand and drags her out of the house when she seems like she wants to ask more questions. 

Katara yanks her hand out of Sokka’s grip when they get out of the house and plants her feet in the alleyway. “I don’t like this.” 

“Me _neither_. Which is why we need to get back to the _ship_.” 

“We need more information!”

“That’s not our _job_ , Katara.” 

“But people could be in trouble!” 

“And what are we supposed to do about that. We’re _kids_. We can’t do anything.” 

“Maybe _you_ can’t. But I can,” she drops her voice, “at least try to heal people.” 

Sokka shakes his head, “ _No._ We can’t. We’ll tell dad, and Bato, and they can do something about it.” 

“But-”

“Katara, _please_.”

“....fine.” 

“Thank you.” Sokka says, relieved. “Hide that, then let’s go.” 

Katara stuffs the box into her bag and trudges out of the alley after Sokka. He pokes his head into the street and scans the crowd. The last thing they need is to be caught by Caldera Guards. 

Sokka curses under his breath as he spots the characteristic red uniform of the Caldera Guards (and the obnoxious height that characterizes those with even a smidgen dragon blood) pushing through the crowd. 

“We have to go, _now_ , Katara.” Sokka turns. 

_Shit_.

There’s an empty spot where Katara had been standing and Sokka runs through all the curse words he knows in his head. _Of course, he can’t take his eye off his sister for_ one whole _minute without her disappearing. Dad is going to kill him._

“Katara?” He calls into the alleyway. She couldn’t have gotten far. 

Sokka glances behind him towards the crowd before shaking his head. He has to find Katara _first_ , then they can go back to the _Minami_ and get scolded by Dad and Bato. 

“Oasis, find my sister.” 

“...” 

Sokka stares at his Interface in shock. The Oasis had never _not_ responded to an Inquiry. 

“Oasis?” 

“...” 

Sokka curses again and takes off down the alleyway. If the Oasis isn’t responding, something must definitely be _wrong_. 

“Katara!” 

Quietly, “Here!” 

Sokka skids to a stop and darts down a separate alleyway, following Katara’s voice. He calls a few more times and continues to follow her voice to a dead end.

“Katara!” Sokka starts. 

“Sokka, he’s _dying_!”

“...What?” Sokka frowns and leans around where Katara is kneeled. 

A small boy is curled into himself against the wall, unconscious. 

“Who is that?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Why’d you run off?” Sokka demands. 

“I heard someone in pain and I had to make sure they were okay!” 

“You didn’t _have_ to do anything, Katara! It’s dangerous and we really need to get back home.”

“I can’t just leave someone to _die_.” 

Sokka groans. “What’s wrong with him?” 

“I don’t know!” Katara unhooks her flask from her hip and closes her eyes. 

“Can you fix him?” Sokka glances behind them, nervously. 

“I could _maybe_ figure out what’s wrong _if you stopped asking questions_.” 

Sokka closes his mouth with a click of his teeth. 

The air around Katara tingles with the discharge of a spell. Water flows around Katara’s fingers before reaching towards the boy. It hovers around his head and then makes its way down his body before returning to the flask. 

“Well?” 

“Well I don’t know!”

“What do you mean you _don’t know_?” Sokka splutters. 

“Exactly what I said!” Katara glares up at Sokka and he frowns. 

“I thought you said that you could figure out what was wrong with him.” 

“And I thought I could too!” Katara looks down at her flask mournfully. “Maybe I’m just not strong enough.” 

“You’re strong enough.” Sokka states. “You just don’t have all the tools you need.” 

Katara smiles slightly and Sokka sighs. 

“We still need to go though.” 

“But what about him?” 

“We have to leave him, Katara. There’s no way we’d be able to get back to the _Minami_ carrying _an unconscious boy_ and not get caught.” 

Katara frowns. “We have to!”

“No we don’t!” 

“I can’t just _leave_ him.” 

“You’ll have to, Katara, _please_.” 

There’s a shout and Sokka stiffens. “What was that?” 

“Huh?” 

“That noise.” 

“I didn’t hear anything?” Katara stands. 

“I definitely heard something. Wait here.” 

Sokka creeps to the entrance of the alleyway they’re in and listens. 

Deep voices echo through the alley. 

“...don’t know what…”

“....have to find…”

“...Air…”

“...call the other…”

Sokka curses. _Caldera Guards, just their luck_. 

“Katara we have to _go_! They’re looking for him.”

“What! Who?” 

“The _Guards_.”

Katara’s eyes widen. “We can’t leave him!” 

“Yes we can if we want to make it home!”

“No we can’t!” Katara quickly kneels again and shakes the boy. “Come on, come on, come _on_. Wake up!” 

Sokka groans, frustrated, and marches over to Katara and pulls at her arm. “We have to _go_.” 

“No!”

There’s a groan and Sokka and Katara freeze. They turn towards the boy and watch as his eyelids flutter open. 

Another groan and the boy slowly lifts an arm to his head. 

Sokka and Katara stare, still and unmoving and unsure what to do. 

“Um, hello?” Sokka tries. 

A pause as the boy turns his head, wincing, and lethargically focuses on Sokka and Katara. 

“Oh.” Another pause. “Hello!” The boy says, _very_ energetically.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't know when/if this will be continued but I do appreciate all of the kind comments you all have given me!


End file.
